New Traditions
by Loretto
Summary: It can be a challenge getting used to someone's traditions and routines.


"So, how do you normally celebrate Thanksgiving?"

"Well, I normally have anywhere from 30 to 40 people, plus one more this year, obviously." She smiled at him. "It's a lot of work and a lot of fun."

"Uh, Dani..."

"Yes?"

"I have a standing commitment on Thanksgiving - I've had it for nearly twenty years. I meet with some old friends in London. We're all bachelors, and we go out drinking the night we get there, we have a huge dinner the next day, we catch up, swap stories."

"Oh, OK. It was wrong of me to presume that you'd be spending Thanksgiving with me, anyway. What you're doing sounds like fun."

"I'm glad you understand why I want to honor that commitment."

She hugged him. "Of course I do. I'll miss you, but we'll have other holidays together in the future. Also, I want to warn you that I'll be an enormous bore for the next few weeks. This is a big production, so don't feel obliged to hang around/listen when I'm in the thick of it."

He laughed. "Thanks for the warning."

It turned out she wasn't kidding. Over the next few weeks she researched wines, made her guest list, and decided on her menu. She decided on desserts - pumpkin, apple, mince and pecan pie with toppings. She made him try each one. She enlisted his assistance on stuffing selection - she had him sample spicy sausage, cornbread, and traditional sage. She finally decided on all three - with so many attendees she was sure they'd all be eaten. "And look," she said. "Even if you won't be here, you are getting to try all the foods!"

The week arrived and she was sitting in bed after talking on the phone with various family members who would be attending. It was 11 when she put down her phone, only for it to ring immediately. Nico glared, and sighed loudly. Dani let it go to voice mail. "Is everything OK?"

He said, "Don't you think all this Thanksgiving preparation is getting excessive? I mean, I feel like you are trying to change my mind by telling me how great your holiday is."

She looked at him, bewildered, "But I told you - I warned you - that it would be bad. Couldn't you have just spent some of these nights at your place?"

He sighed and said, "You're right. You did tell me. I'm the one who is being unrealistic. I'm sorry." He got dressed, kissed her on the cheek and went downstairs. She remained sitting in bed, stunned, as she heard the alarm being set and then the door close.

They didn't talk about it, and he didn't spend the night for the rest of the week, although he came over Monday evening before his flight to say goodbye. She drove him to the airport, even though he insisted she didn't need to, but, as she pointed out, she was supposed to pick up Jeannette and her family an hour or so around the time he was slated to depart.

She decided to broach the subject of the Thanksgiving preparations. "Nico, I'm sorry if you felt like my Thanksgiving preparations were overwhelming. Holidays are just my thing. Also, with Lindsey at college, and my mom staying with my sister, not to mention Jeannette being in Spain, I didn't have my normal team, so you were my sounding board, and I clearly missed the signs that should have told me to shut up."

He made a sound, a slight exhale of breath and shook his head. "Dani - you really just can't stop yourself with the guilting me."

She said, calmly, but slightly hurt, "Nico, I'm not trying to guilt you. I'm sorry if it came across that way."

He said, "It's amazing how you can always seem to have the moral high ground."

She said, "What? Are you kidding me? I -" she stopped herself. "Let's have this conversation another time, if it's OK with you."

"What's this? You're walking away from a fight?"

"Yes, I am, because I already know how it is going to end, and this is not the time or the place."

They drove the rest of the way in silence. She walked him to the check-in area and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you when you get back, OK?"

He said, emotionlessly, "OK."

Her next 24 hours were spent picking people up, cooking, making last-minute liquor runs. She didn't hear from him, but wasn't really surprised. It was 1 AM Thanksgiving morning when she finally collapsed into bed after setting her alarm for 6:00.

She woke up a few minutes before the alarm went off when she heard a noise in the room.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"I'm sorry. I told my friends about you and they said that I was being an idiot and that if they had someone to spend the holiday with, they would. So I took their advice."

She patted the bed next to her and he sat down. She gave him a big hug.

"I'm sorry I was a jerk. I don't know why I was so angry about it."

"You were angry because you felt guilty and you didn't like it."

"That obvious, huh?"

"Yes. I am a psychologist, after all. But I missed something obvious, too. When I told Jeannette about our fight, she was horrified. She told me under no circumstances should I ever, EVER submit you to my holiday preparation process like that. Apparently I am a little overwhelming, even to her. Her exact words were, 'I don't care if he was a Navy SEAL - no man can endure that.'"

He laughed and kissed her on the head. "I have always liked Jeannette."

"She's a good friend, and a smart cookie." She paused for a moment. "She even suggested that we invite your friends here for next Thanksgiving."

"That might work."

"How many are there, four or five?"

"Twelve."

"Pshaw. Not a problem."

"But, isn't that going to make you even more frantic?"

"Nope, it isn't, because I've decided to take Jeannette's advice and hire a caterer for next year."

"Brilliant woman."

"Definitely."

"One last question: you said you knew how this discussion was going to end. Did you think we were going to break up over it?"

"Of course not. I just knew what you were feeling and wanted to give you your space to work it out. You've been a bachelor for a long time, Nico. It's natural to want some distance from so much togetherness. I knew we'd talk it out."

"Well, I had an idea how it was going to turn out, too, and it involved me climbing into bed with you, so you were wrong, too."

She looked at him with a smirk. "Yep. I was wrong. Oh so wrong."

He kissed her, but she pushed him away. "Wait. Can you change my alarm for 8:00? I was going to get up early and make pancakes for all the guests, but they'll figure something out on their own."

He complied, and kissed her again. She stopped him. "Wait. Can you make it 9:00?"

He looked her in the eyes knowingly and said, "Already did."


End file.
